Automated dispensers are currently used to dispense soft drinks, food items, toiletries, and other items to users. In hospitals, such automated dispensers may be used to distribute linens, surgical scrubs, and other items to members of the hospital's staff.
In many situations, it is desirable to load items to be dispensed from a dispenser into a cartridge at a central location and then later insert the loaded cartridge into the dispenser so that items from the cartridge may be dispensed from the dispenser. In some cases, the dispenser may use an automated door to selectively control access to the contents of the cartridge.
In various dispensers, it is desirable to load the dispenser through the front of the dispenser, so that the front portion of the cartridge aligns with a front opening of the dispenser. This is fairly easy to accomplish with cartridges that include only swiveled wheels. However, cartridges with only swiveled wheels are often difficult and unsafe to transport in populated areas such as hospitals due to their lack of stability.
There is currently a need for dispensers that would facilitate the loading, into a dispenser's housing, of cartridges having one or more non-swiveled (e.g., fixed) wheels. More particularly, there is a need for dispensers that would facilitate the lateral loading of cartridges having stable, non-swiveled wheels into the dispenser (e.g., through a front opening in the dispenser).